Author: Khondkarian Raffi

SECURITY GUARANTEES OF VOGHJABERD BURIAL GROUND DISAPPEARED WITH ITS CONTENT

ArmInfo
2010-03-31 15:34:00

Arminfo. As Ecolur reported, heavy machinery entered the pesticide
burial ground in Voghjaberd, and as a result, the burial ground cover
was leveled with the earth, the protective layer was harmed, the
integrity of capacities near the burial ground surface with 2-meter
depth was disturbed. A cloud of toxic substances was spread in the air.

It should be noted that more than 500 tons of expired and banned for
use pesticides with high concentration of chlorine, phosphorus and
other toxic elements and compounds were buried in this burial ground.

In her interview with EcoLur Chairman of "Armenian Women for Health
and Healthy Environment" Elena Manvelyan said that at least four state
departments should deal with the security issues of the burial ground
the Ministry of Emergency Situations of RA, the Ministry of Nature
Protection of RA, the Ministry of Health of RA and the Ministry of
Agriculture of RA. "We have raised this issue for several times and
the only reply we got was the situation is under control. We think
this control should be exercised straightaway. First of all, the local
population should be protected from the toxic substance having been
emitted in atmosphere among which one can find such toxic substances
as phosgene gas used as a chemical weapon during World War I," Elena
Manvelyan said.

ARMENIAN-BRITISH CONNECT TO OPEN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY IN YEREVAN AND IN LONDON

ArmInfo
2010-03-31 13:27:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian-British Connect (ABC) is expected to open
an Armenian- British chamber of commerce in Yerevan and in London,
Hayk Haroutiunyan, Chairman of ABC Board of Directors told media in
Yerevan on Wednesday.

He said that official opening of the camber of commerce in Yerevan is
scheduled for April 2010. Opening of the chamber in London is expected
at the end of the year. The chamber will help establishing a single
business platform for the Armenian and British business communities
to enhance cooperation between the two countries’ businessmen. H.

Haroutiunyan said that the chamber will create favorable business
environment for foreign investors in Armenia. He said 11 international
and Armenian organizations are members of the chamber, in particular
Ernst & Young. Negotiations are currently underway with HSBC Bank
Armenia, Arpa-Sevan CJSC and others.

Armenian British Connect (ABC) is a membership-based, non-profit and
non-governmental organization that primarily focuses on developing
and strengthening relations between the United Kingdom and the
Republic of Armenia. Our Membership base is comprised mainly of
alumni and current students of UK educational institutions. For more
information regarding admissions criteria, membership base, etc. The
particular fields of operations of Armenian British Connect NGO are:
Educational cooperation; Culture awareness; Financial integration;
Civil Society Building; and Social collaboration.

COOPERATION OF ARMENIAN AND JEWISH LOBBIES REALISTIC, EXPERT SAYS

Panorama.am
16:37 30/03/2010

Politics

Expert on Armenian-Israeli relations Artak Grigoryan considers the
cooperation of Armenian and Jewish lobbies possible.

"Yes, I think, this cooperation is possible. As the US were discussing
the Armenian Genocide issue for several years, the Jewish lobby always
assumed anti-Armenian stance under Turkey’s and Israel’s political
pressure and impeded to the endorsement of the resolution. However,
the Jewish lobby in America faces problems, hence, it needs
cooperation. The cooperation of the two lobbies can be useful," A.

Grigoryan told a news conference.

As to the so intensively enhancing Israel-Azerbaijan relations, both
parties may benefit from the reinforcement of the relations, expert
said. 45% of Israel’s energy comes from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan
uses Israel’s lobby for its interests, in the US as well. Besides,
according to A. Grigoryan, Israel tends to show the Arab world that
it can have good neighborly relations with Muslim states.

Voice of Russia
March 28 2010

Memorial V Day Cup arrives in Yerevan

Russian runners continue separate relay deliveries of two memorial
cups scheduled to meet up at Moscow’s Poklonnaya Gora war memorial on
the 65th anniversary of Allied Victory over Nazi Germany on May 9th.
One is travelling from Murmansk in the Russian Arctic, and the other,
from Grodno in western Belarus. After showing up in Moldova and
Ukraine, the latter cup has arrived in the Armenian capital Yerevan.
It is expected to be carried to all posts of Russian troops guarding
Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Iran. Both relays started on the 2nd
of February.

04.html

President Sargsyan meets members of the Deep Purple rock group

armradio.am
27.03.2010 15:09

President Serzh Sargsyan today received Ian Gillan and John Dee,
members of the Deep Purple rock group.

President Sargsyan welcomed the visit of the renowned musicians to
Armenia, which is a great event in the life of our music-loving
society.

Serzh Sargsyan said the Armenian people remember that the musicians
supported our country after the devastating earthquake of 1988.

`We are glad and happy to have managed to make our modest
contribution,’ the guests said.

Turning to the concerts in Armenia, Ian Gillan and John Dee said to be
impressed by the performance of the Armenian State Philharmonic
Orchestra and said they were surprised that representatives of the
senior and younger generations enjoyed the music with equal
inspiration.

The interlocutors talked about the work done within in the framework
of the `Rock helps Armenia’ program.

`We’ll always be glad to host you in our country,’ President Sargsyan stressed.

Pres. Sargsyan: Choice Between Rejecting Pressures by Turkey &
Azerbaijan or Graceful Exit

By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine

Issue #1200 March 26, 2010

Artsakh Armenian Republic (Nagorno-Karabakh), located at the heart of
energy transit region linking the oil-rich fields of the Caspian Sea
to Europe via Turkish-occupied Western Armenia, Turkish-occupied
Cilicia and Turkey, recently became topic of international debate.

On March 23, the Reuters news agency quoted President Serzh Sargsyan
as saying, during an official visit to Syria that "Armenian forces
could give back some Azeri territory held since the war between the
two countries in return for security and self-determination for the
region of Nagorno-Karabakh."

Reuters reported Pres. Sargsyan as making the following comment to the
Syrian newspaper Al-Watan: "Contrary to the claims of Azerbaijan, we
do not populate and use the territories, which are the security zone
of Nagorno-Karabakh … When the people of Karabagh get a true chance
to realize their right to self-determination and mechanisms for
security and development are created, then in compromise the Armenian
side can consider the return of the regions around Karabagh,
preserving the corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia."

Back on March 4, in an article titled "Deputy Chief of Staff to the
President of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan Undermines Armenia’s National
Security," I had strongly criticized Mr. V. Sargsyan for his misguided
statements regarding the territories of both the highlands and the
lowlands of Artsakh Armenian Republic.

In that article I had reported that in February, Mr. V. Sargsyan
during a lecture in Washington, DC, and in response to a question
from Mr. Kazari of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in
Washington, DC, had astonishingly said the following regarding the
current Armenian-Azeri border: "All those important parts of the
borders can be de-blocked. Our immediate borders between Armenia and
Azerbaijan have nothing to do with the territories around Nagorno
Karabagh. … Now as far as the occupation, our concerns are very much
in favor [of] … what is important [is that] the president of Armenia
[Serzh Sargsyan], who was the Minister of Defense of these
territories, has always stated that he does not think of these
territories as historic Armenian lands. He always stated that these
territories have to return to Azerbaijan when the settlement of
Nagorno-Karabagh is found."

I had asked: "Is Mr. V. Sargsyan aware that the territories
surrounding mountainous Artsakh have always been part of Armenia?"

And I had added: "The now-liberated territories around Artsakh are
part of the entire Region of Artsakh that extends to the Kura River,
just east of the border between the Republic of Artsakh and the former
Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan. Mr. V. Sargsyan should know,
the Artsakh Region along with Nakhitchevan was arbitrarily carved out
of the 1918-1920 independent Republic of Armenia. These regions were
part of Armenia up until its takeover by the Soviet occupation forces
in November 1920. In 1921, soon after Sovietization, Armenia was
subjected to the process of ‘Stalinization’ when the infamous Soviet
Dictator Josef Stalin ‘gifted’ the entire Region of Artsakh with its
lowlands and highlands; and Nakhitchevan to the then newly created
Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan."

I had continued: "Presently, the Republic of Azerbaijan continues to
illegally occupy 1) The northern Artsakh district of Shahumian; and
Gandzak (Kirovabad); 2) the outlying lowlands that extend to Kura
River; and 3) Nakhitchevan. One wonders if Pres. Serzh Sargsyan is
aware of his Deputy Chief of Staff V. Sargsyan’s latest serious
international blunder (to say the least), undermining Armenia’s
national security interests during a lecture in Washington, DC. By
using the misleading term ‘occupation,’ Mr. V. Sargsyan should feel
ashamed for having committed an act of blasphemy against the memory of
thousands of innocent Armenian victims of the 1988 Azeri pogroms in
Baku, Sumgait and Gandzak/Kirovabad and their deportation staged by
Azerbaijan. Mr. V. Sargsyan also disrespected the memory of countless
freedom fighters that liberated Artsakh from the Azeri yoke during the
Artsakh Liberation War (1991-1994) which was in response to the 1988
Azeri crimes against defenseless Armenians."

Little did I know that a few weeks later, a similarly self-defeatist
comment on Artsakh would be made by the president himself!

I would like to respectfully point out to President Sargsyan that the
First President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossyan gracefully resigned
rather than confronting the then fast-heightening domestic and
international opposition to his proposed compromise on Artsakh
Armenian Republic (Karabagh).

During the presidency of Mr. Robert Kocharyan, to his credit, Pres.
Kocharyan managed to avoid giving-in to the pressure mounted by the
neo-con lackeys of Turkey and Azerbaijan in the United States and
Europe.

One wonders if Mr. Serzh Sargsyan’s ascendancy to presidential power
has given the neo-cons the "golden opportunity" to corner the
fledgling Sargsyan administration and to attempt to carve out maximum
amount of concessions from him on 1) Artsakh (Karabagh); 2) Armenian
Genocide issue; 3) Worldwide demands from Turkey for the return of the
Turkish-occupied lands in Western Armenia and Cilicia to their
rightful owners the Armenians; 4) Demands from Turkey for restitution
on real and personal properties illegally confiscated from the victims
of the Armenian Genocide; 5) The claims on the return of
Azeri-occupied Nakhitchevan Autonomous Republic, Azeri-occupied
Artsakh Northern district of Shahumyan, and Azeri-occupied Gandzak to
Armenians.

In order to preserve his shaky administration, it’s all too obvious
that Pres. Sargsyan has only two choices in order to somehow continue
being in the good grace of his people both in Armenia and the
Diaspora.

Option A: As president of Armenia, he rejects the pressures mounted by
Ankara and Baku, and backs off making irretrievably damaging
concessions to Turkey and Azerbaijan under the auspices of their
neo-con lackeys in the West;

Option B: Before selling out Armenia, Artsakh (Karabagh); world
Armenians and their Cause, and in order to avoid becoming a target for
criticism and even rejection by generations to come, Mr. Sargsyan
resigns from the presidency for the sake of giving his people the
choice to courageously tackle the challenges ahead with a strong sense
of determination; and to pave the way for a brighter future.

YEREVAN SCHOOL N 29 IS NAMED AFTER DECEASED ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER ANDRANIK MARGARYAN

ArmInfo
2010-03-25 18:38:00

ArmInfo. Yerevan secondary school N 29 has been named after deceased
Armenian prime minister Andranik Margaryan. The relevant decision was
taken at Mar 25 guest sitting of the Armenian government in Ararat
region. Today, on the 3rd anniversary of Andranik Margaryan’s death,
the Armenian leadership headed by President Serzh Sargsyan visited
the Pantheon after Komitas and paid a tribute to the memory of the
well-known statesman. "Naming the school after Andranik Margaryan,
we express people’s gratitude to him",- said Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan.

Andranik Margaryan was born on 2 June 1951. He joined the Republican
Party of Armenia in 1992. In 1995-1999 he was a member of the National
Assembly of Armenia. In 2000-2007 Andranik Margaryan held the post
of the Armenian prime minister. He died on 25 March 2007.

ADMINISTRATIVE COURT DISMISSES CLAIM ON TEGHUT

ArmInfo
2010-03-24 18:12:00

ArmInfo. Today the Administrative Court dismissed the claim on Teghut,
says lawyer Hayk Alumyan.

Alumyan says that he is going to dispute the verdict in the next 7-10
says: "I am sure that sooner or later we will win this case. The only
question is how many national and international court instances we
will have to apply to."

To remind, in summer 2009 Ecodar, Vanadzor’s Helsinki Office and
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center NGOs filed a suit
to the Administrative Court against the Government of Armenia. They
said that the project to develop Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit was
contrary to Armenia’s legislation and international conventions. The
Court dismissed their claim and refused to suspend the project. Nov 14
0009 the Court of Cassation revoked the verdict of the Administrative
Court.

Teghut is the second biggest deposit in Armenia after Kajaran. It
has 450,000,000 tons of ore with 1,600,000 tons of 0.355% copper
and 99,000 tons of 0.021% molybdenum. ACP’s project to develop the
deposit was approved by the Government of Armenia in Nov 2007.

ARMENIAN DRAM REBOUNDS

1991680.html
23.03.2010

Armenia’s national currency, the dram, has unexpectedly rallied
against the U.S. dollar and other major world currencies, reversing
a major depreciation observed last week.

After months of relative stability, the dram began slowly weakening
against the dollar in mid-February. The process sharply accelerated on
March 15, with the Armenian currency losing almost 2.4 percent of its
nominal value in the next four days, despite apparently significant
dollar injections in the local currency market made by the country’s
Central Bank.

The fall sparked panic buying of dollars in currency exchange shops
across Yerevan last Thursday. Some of them stopped selling the
U.S. currency as a result.

The dram has rebounded since then. On Tuesday alone, it strengthened
against the greenback by over 1 percent, trading at 394.5 per dollar
at the Yerevan stock exchange and regaining the exchange rate that
existed over a week ago.

The modest volume of currency transactions at the NASDAQ OMX Armenia
exchange reported on Friday, Monday and Tuesday suggests that the
dram rally did not primarily result from Central Bank intervention.

The bank appears to have spent over $120 million of its hard-currency
reserves on shoring up the dram between last December and February.

Unlike opposition politicians and other government critics, it has
downplayed the latest exchange rate fluctuations.

NOUVEAU CAS DE NEGATIONNISME AU COLLEGE
par Jean Eckian

armenews
mardi23 mars 2010
Strasbourg

A un mois de la 95e commemoration du Genocide des Armeniens, a laquelle
participera Charles Aznavour sous l’Arc de Triomphe, le 24 avril, une
nouvelle affaire de negationnisme au college vient d’etre devoilee
par la presse turque dans laquelle il est question de la chanson
"Pour toi Armenie".

Apres l’affaire de Pont-a-Mousson, oe un eleve avait nie ouvertement
le genocide des armeniens, cette fois, c’est a Strasbourg qu’une
eleve de 3eme a manifeste ce qu’il est convenu de qualifier comme
etant du negationnisme.

Les faits:

D.E, professeur d’education musicale d’un college a Strasbourg,
outre la dispense de l’enseignement du bel art, a pour habitude
d’eveiller ses eleves au devoir de memoire. "Un travail transversal",
explique-t-il.

Ce jour la, en classe de troisieme, l’educateur, en reference au
tremblement de terre qui a endeuille Haiti (12 janvier 2010), diffuse
la chanson de Charles Aznavour "Pour toi Armenie", puis il distribue
le texte aux eleves avec un avenant sur le genocide.

Outre le contexte de la chanson, il explique que le peuple armenien
a souffert auparavant d’un genocide. C’est alors qu’une jeune fille,
prenommee Edanur, interpelle "gentiment" (sic) le professeur qui
explique les evenements de 1915: "Monsieur, ce que vous dites est
faux. les Armeniens sont responsables, ils ont trahis la Turquie."

"D.E" que j’ai eu au telephone, m’a indique que "c’est un des arguments
qui est avance", sans pour autant les cautionner.

A la question: "S’agissant d’une adolescente, ne pensez-vous pas
que les arguments avances sont le fruit d’une education familiale
deliberee?", l’enseignant avance alors qu’il est justement du devoir
de l’education nationale d’entreprendre une formation pedagogique
sur ces problemes.

Il n’en demeure pas moins qu’une certaine presse turque fait ses choux
gras de cette affaire, declenchee encore une fois par la famille de
la jeune eleve qui s’est adressee a Emre Demir, un correspondant
du journal Zaman a Strasbourg. Le meme organe de presse avait ete
sollicite dans l’affaire de Pont-a-Mousson.

Ce dernier, rapporte les propos du pere d’Edanur accusant D.A d’avoir
dit que "tant que la Turquie ne reconnaîtra pas le genocide armenien,
elle ne pourra pas integrer l’Union Europeenne". Le journaliste ajoute
qu’il s’agit "d’une propagande unilaterale enseignee en histoire"
[…] Que si les eleves nient les allegations de genocide en France,
ils seront punis. Selon lui l’educateur musical aurait "distribue un
texte decrivant les "allegations" declarant les turcs coupables".

Un peu plus tard, j’ai pu m’entretenir avec E.G un journaliste turc
vivant en France, dont la famille demeure toujours en Turquie, et qui
m’a explique par le menu la facon dont une certaine presse publiait
allègrement ce genre d’histoire pour "donner a manger aux kemalistes".

Tout comme certaines declarations intempestives d’Erdogan font partie
d’un scenario bien rôde du meme cru. "Un catalyseur", precise-t-il.

"Pourquoi dans l’edition francaise de Zaman cette information est
curieusement absente", m’interroge-t-il, " alors qu’il s’agit d’un
incident se passant en France"?

Une strategie qui va beaucoup plus loin selon mon correspondant.

Puisqu’il est la question de proselytisme par implantation en France
et ailleurs d’ecoles privees (1) islamiques sans reelle pedagogie,
reposant uniquement sur l’endoctrinement, tel que le concoit l’eglise
de scientologie importe des Etats Unis, m’a -t-il explique. Selon lui,
"si ce degage de cet enseignement, ne serait-ce que 10% de fidèles
soldats, ca suffit", dit-il. Une pieuvre dont les tentacules seraient
en permanente expansion…

Revenant sur l’affaire qui nous occupe, il dira, ces familles
ne s’integreront jamais a la societe francaise, elles resteront
toujours turques. 140 000 turcs vivent actuellement dans la region
Strasbourgeoise.

Par ailleurs, le journaliste, qui selon ses dires, est surveille par le
MIT (intelligence service turque), explique que l’Etat est "gouverne"
par une mysterieuse et obscure holding qui propage la doctrine du
Sethullahci, coeur du systeme du pouvoir AKP proche du Hamas.

Aussi bien Francois Hollande que Valerie Pecresse, pour ne citer
qu’eux, et autres leaders de droite comme de gauche ont convenus
de la necessite de la penalisation de la negation du genocide
armenien. Mais a ce jour rien n’indique que le Senat, influence par
l’avis de l’association "Liberte pour l’Histoire" va s’emparer de la
question, adoptee par l’Assemblee nationale, en 2006, par 106 voix
contre 19. 49 UMP, 40 PS, 7 UDF, 6 PCF et 4 non inscrits ont vote le
texte, tandis que 17 UMP et 2 PS s’y etaient opposes.